“No, thank you! I’ll take your word for it that you can jump higher than your brother; I can’t spare any more of my flesh to-day.”
“Daddy, you stand still then and let me jump over you,” pleaded Judy.
Billy Junior heaved a sigh of resignation and stood still while Judy leaped over him, her feet held so close to her body that there was a full foot between his back and her feet.
“See! Don’t I jump higher and better than Punch?” she asked proudly.
“Oh, children,” exclaimed Daisy, their mother, “don’t always be vying with one another. All you do these days is to argue. Can’t you play without quarreling and fussing?”
“We don’t fuss or quarrel, mother. We just tell each other what we think and want.”
“Well, don’t do it so emphatically then,” replied their mother.
“Oh, there goes Farmer Jones’ flock of goats down the road to the pasture. Can’t we go with them? It is such fun to play with them in their pasture.”
“Yes, you may go if their man will let you. But I am afraid when he sees you he will drive you back,” replied Daisy.
“Well, if he does, we will wait until he gets them in the pasture and goes home. Then we will run down the road and crawl under the fence. There is a big hole we know about that is large enough for us to crawl through, for we were down there yesterday and crawled through and played with them all the afternoon. Come on, Punch, let’s go and try it.”